Pastoral Ministry programs feed hunger for deeper knowledge

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Created on Monday, 06 May 2013 15:46

A Q-and-A with Sister Diane Koorie, RSM, director of the Office of Pastoral Ministry

Since 2001, Sister Diane Koorie, RSM, has directed the Office of Pastoral Ministry, which is currently recruiting and admitting a new class of students to the Aquinas Ministry Formation Program, a Masters program. This month, we talked with Sister Diane about the motivation for and meaning behind her work.

SC: How would you describe the purpose of the Office of Pastoral Ministry? SDK: The Pastoral Ministry office provides programs, initiatives and resources that support the initial and ongoing formation for all members in the archdiocese in living out their baptismal call to ministry in the local Church. The office provides opportunities for enriching one's knowledge and understanding of the Catholic tradition, growth in the spiritual life and the development of skills necessary for ministry and for effective leadership in ministry.

Festival showcases Lebanese faith, culture through food, art and more

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Created on Monday, 06 May 2013 15:41

By Anamaria Scaperlanda BiddickFor The Sooner Catholic

NORMAN — Hummus, tabouli, cedar trees, Farouz, and dabkeh: Lebanese culture came to Norman Saturday, April 27, at the second annual Lebanese Heritage and Food Festival. Hosted by Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Mission, the festival offered visitors the opportunity to experience and taste the rich Middle Eastern culture brought to the United States by Lebanese immigrants.

The sunny, slightly cool weather was perfect for visitors to appreciate the variety of performers who shared their talents. The University of Oklahoma's Lebanese Student Association performed the traditional dabkeh dance, which is characterized by vigorous stomping and a semicircular arc. Dressed in black vests with matching pants topped by small red hats for the men and beaded red pants with white shirts for the women, the group showcased more difficult forms of the dance before teaching the basic steps to festival attendees. Approximately 40 attendees joined the dancers, creating a dabkeh-dancing semi-circle stretching across the festival tent.

Year of Faith Heritage Room exhibit opens

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Created on Monday, 06 May 2013 15:37

By Sooner Catholic Staff

The new exhibit at the archdiocesan Heritage Room is open! Pastoral Center staff members lined up on the afternoon of Tuesday, April 23, as George Rigazzi thanked those who helped him to set up the Year of Faith exhibit, including his wife, Stephanie, and the designer, Christina Speligene.

Once Rigazzi opened the door and ushered the group inside, the visitors were met with a display of Bishop Meerschaert's impressive cope (a cape-like vestment), which he wore a century ago. The exhibit is divided into six sections.

Knights of Columbus Convention features elections, awards

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Created on Monday, 06 May 2013 15:30

By Mason BeecroftFor The Sooner Catholic

The 108th annual Oklahoma Knights of Columbus State Convention was held at the Double Tree Hotel Warren Place in Tulsa from April 26 to April 28. The State Convention is an annual event for Brother Knights to review activities of the past year, conduct necessary business, plan for the future growth of the state council and to share the experience of being a Knight.

St. Mary's Council 13313 hosted the event. The Convention Memorial Mass was held at the Church of St. Mary in Tulsa at 5:00 p.m. Saturday, April 27. The Right Reverend Abbot Lawrence Stasyszen, Father James A. Caldwell and Father Jack Gleason celebrated the Mass. Ron Schwarz, the state secretary of Oklahoma, read off the names of KOC members who passed away in the last year. Mass was followed by the convention banquet with Abbot Stasyszen serving as the keynote speaker.

The Bishop of Rome as Christian radical

It was a brief greeting to former colleagues. But if you read Pope Francis's April 18 letter to the Argentine bishops' conference closely, you get a glimpse of the man, his convictions and his vision.

First, the man: Jorge Mario Bergoglio has remained very much himself, rather than adopting what some might deem the pontifical style. Any pope who can write his former colleagues in these terms-"Dear Brothers: I am sending these lines of greeting and also to excuse myself for being unable to attend due to 'commitments assumed recently' (sounds good?)"-is a man at home in his own skin, and one likely to remain that way.

Then, the convictions: Pope Francis believes that the Church in Latin America took a decisive step toward a new future in 2007. Then, at the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, held at Aparecida in Brazil, the leaders of the Church moved far beyond the "kept" Catholicism of the past — the Catholicism that was "kept" by legal establishment or, more recently, cultural habit — and embraced a robustly evangelical Catholicism in which, as the pope wrote on April 18, "the whole of ministry (is) in a missionary key."

Cardinal Dolan earns Wilberforce Award for religious liberty efforts

ARLINGTON, Va. — New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan's efforts to promote religious liberty, support traditional marriage and advocate for life has earned him the William Wilberforce Award from the evangelical Chuck Colson Center for Christian World View.

In accepting the award in a ceremony April 27, Cardinal Dolan, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, welcomed the increased cooperation and stronger collaboration developing between the Catholic Church and evangelicals on issues of common concern.

Preparations for World Youth Day proceed with new Pope Francis in mind

VATICAN CITY — Visiting Rio de Janeiro, the chief organizer of papal trips confirmed Pope Francis will participate in the key events of World Youth Day July 23-28 and he said other parts of the papal trip are being tailor-made for the new pope.

Alberto Gasbarri, the Vatican official who has worked on organizing papal trips since the pontificate of Blessed John Paul II, said, "We had a program fixed between October and November of last year, but a little detail changed — we have a new pope."

"We had a tunic made to measure for one pope, and now we need to make another. The program will be updated" to fit the ideas and style of Pope Francis, Gasbarri said in a statement released by the Brazilian bishops' conference April 24.

After discussing the plans with Pope Francis, Gasbarri arrived in Rio April 23 to meet with Brazilian church officials and the local World Youth Day organizing committee as well as local, state and national government officials to review the plans and discuss ideas.

Pope Francis to canonize 800 Italians martyred by Ottoman soldiers

VATICAN CITY — The martyrdom of an estimated 800 Italian laymen killed by Ottoman soldiers in the 15th century is a reminder to Christians today of Jesus' call to concretely give witness to the Gospel of love, not revenge, said an Italian archbishop.

Antonio Primaldo and some 800 fellow townsfolk will be canonized in St. Peter's Square May 12 by Pope Francis — more than 500 years after their gruesome deaths in Otranto, a port city on the eastern — most tip of southern Italy.